1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to progressively clamping a pair of members together to hold them firmly attached to one another. Especially the invention relates to progressively clamping together two vertical struts of adjacent structural panels of a building. The invention also relates to a tool for carrying out the method of progressively clamping a pair of members together.
2. Acknowledgement of Prior Art
International Application No. PCT/CA97/00783 (WO 98/27289) published on Jun. 25, 1998, is directed to a building system including portable prefabricated wall sections having parallel vertical support members. When the building is erected the parallel vertical members of adjacent wall sections are held closely together by clips which can be progressively tightened. The clips are screwed onto the vertical members and, in some circumstances, the heads of the screws can upstand from the clips in a disadvantageous manner. Moreover, although the building system of the above referenced International Patent Application provides a building which is quickly and easily erected by amateurs, the chore of installing and tightening all of the clips is tedious and time consuming.
The present invention provides an alternative method of tightening together the prefabricated wall sections of a building system such as that of International Patent Application No. PCT/CA97/00783. The method may also be used for tightening together other members which it is desired to progressively move together and hold firmly in place.
Staple are widely used for hold articles together. Often, staples may be applied through layers of paper or fabric against a guide surface to clinch the legs of the staples so that the layers of material are held between the clinched legs and the web of the staple. Alternatively in a carpentry environment, staples are forced into a penetrable material such as wood and possibly also through an upper layer of fabric material. In this case, the legs of the staples remain vertical and the staple is held in a similar manner to that of a nail by its forced penetration into the wood. There is no way known to the applicants of applying clinched staples without the use of a backing guide surface to guide the legs of the staples or a backing penetrable surface to hold the legs of the staples. Moreover, there is no known way of utilizing staples so that they are progressively tightened at a rate chosen by the operator.
The present inventor has addressed these problems.